Monrovia – The Senate has elected Montserrado County Senator Saah H. Joseph as Chairman of the Senate’s Statutory Committee on Executive to replace deceased Montserrado County lawmaker Geraldine Doe-Sheriff. The position had been vacant since her death because she served as its Chairperson.
The Chairman on Executive of the Senate coordinates activities between the Senate and the Executive Branch and a co-helper to the President Pro-tempore of the Senate in the day-to-day running of the Senate.
Since the death of Senator Sheriff, the Senate has been sitting without a Chair on the statutory Committee on Executive, which is the second in ranking within the leadership structure of the Senate.
Saah H. Joseph, who replaced former Senator, now President of Liberia George M. Weah, was on Tuesday, July 2, elected on white ballot by majority members of the Senate.
Bomi County Senator Sando D. Johnson nominated Senator Joseph as the lone candidate and the election was consensus base.
Based on the unwillingness of other senators to express interest, Nimba County Senator Prince Y. Johnson was subsequently asked to cast a white ballot representing the majority votes which automatically declared Senator Joseph as the new Chairman of the Senate’s Statutory Committee on Executive.
Minutes after being administered the oath of office by the Senate Secretary, J. Nanborlor Singbeh, the Chairman on Executive commended his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him.
“I want to take this time to express my thanks and appreciation to all of you for electing me as your Chairman on Executive. I promised that I will not disappoint you.”
He said the fact that he was chosen by the ruling party to replace President Weah at the Senate speaks volume that he (Senator Joseph) has a cordial relationship with the Executive.
Staffers’ Welfare
As chair on Executive, Sen. Joseph promised that part of his primary focus will be to improve the welfare of staffers of the Senate. Some of the issues on his agenda for staffers are the repair of breakdown buses for staff transportation to and from work something he claimed will be major concern as Chairman on Executive.
We cannot have staffs at the House of Representative coming to work in the House of Representatives’ buses and our staffs at the Senate are transporting themselves.”
Senator Joseph won the hearts of Liberians based on his selflessness during the fight of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) that badly hit the country in 2014. As a sitting representative at the time, he put aside his high-profile title and drove ambulances around Montserrado County carrying Ebola victims to the “holding centers” or Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs) in Monrovia and its environs.
As the result of his contributions, Senator Joseph was overwhelmingly re-elected in 2017 by the people of district 13 Montserrado County and few months later he was also overwhelmingly elected by the people of Montserrado in the 2018 by-election as Senator of Montserrado County to replace than Senator George M. Weah, who was elected as President of Liberia during the 2017 Presidential election.